Allied nations couldn't repay their debts to the US after Germany announced that they couldn't pay their reparations, which was a total of $33 billion.
The United States proposed an international law court twice at Hague conferences, but the world court was based on arbitration
After the Treaty of Versailles, the US was placed as the role of world leader.
Owen D. Young headed a commission that lowered the annual payment of Germany to virtually the identical sum that the other European nations owed the US.
Germany and European nations were able to resume paying until the Great Depression
In late 1931, Herbert Hoover put a one-year moratorium on both the reparations and debt payments
moratorium: a temporary prohibition of an activity.
In the end, only Finland paid its debts in full
Before WWII, the US pushed for an agreement on naval disarmament
The Four Power Treaty of 1921 prohibited new fortifications throughout most of the Pacific; was between the United States, Great Britain, Japan and France
The following year, the Five Power Treaty was created that included Italy
This set a limit for battleships based on a 5:5:3 ratio, being US, Great Britain and Japan respectfully
In August of 1928, the Kellogg-Briand Pact was created, which was "an instrument of national policy" and supported "pacific means" to settle international quarrels
In 1928, the Pan-American Conference was held in Havana, Cuba
"Memorandum on the Monroe Doctrine" written by Undersecretary of State J. Reuben Clark seemed to promise an end to American military intervention based solely on the Monroe Doctrine
The "Good Neighbor Policy" was instituted was avoided the use of military force in South America
The London Economic Conference was held in 1933
Roosevelt took the United States off the gold standard in an effort to forestall deflation and total economic collapse
Roosevelt extended diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union, and the Soviets promised to halt subversive propaganda
Soviet Union also promised to guarantee civil and religious liberty to Americans in the Soviet Union and resolve the national debt and property claims issues at a later date
In 1916, the Jones Act promised Filipinos their independence, but at an unspecified date
The Tyding-McDuffie Act of 1934 affirmed Congress' intention to grant independence to the Philippines
Benito Mussolini gained power in Italy in 1922
Fascist movement emphasized aggressive nationalism
"Il Duce" or "the leader" as he liked to call himself
Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist Party, otherwise known as the Nazis, in Germany
Hitler completely went against the Treaty of Versailles
Emperor Hirohito in Japan also had the same ideas as Hitler and Mussolini, which was basically territorial expansionism and that started with Japan taking over Manchuria in 1931
Isolationists believed that America's entry into WWI was dictated by munitions makers and arms dealers who profited from the conflict
The Nye Committee's finding led to the passage of the Neutrality Acts
Congress hoped to prevent the US from being dragged unwillingly into another worldwide conflict
Roosevelt tried to keep the US neutral
The Spanish Republic, a liberal democratic government was established in 1931
Five years later, General Francisco Franco led the Spanish force into Morocco
In October 1936, Hilter and Mussolini established the Berlin-Rome Axis
Germany and Japan joined in the Anti-Comintern Pact directed against the Soviet Union and global communism
Italy signed the pact a year later
Roosevelt's administration called for a "moral embargo" of military technology against nations that bombed civilians
Roosevelt moved cautiously in the face of increased tensions in Europe and Asia
Isolationists along with pacifists urged that the US remain apart from various conflicts
In May on 1937, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Neville Chamberlain attempted to limit the territorial expansion by Hitler through appeasement
appeasment: to relieve or satisfy (a demand or a feeling)
At the Munich Conference, the Sudetenland was incorporated into the Third Reich
Chamberlain returned to London to announce "peace for our time"
Hitler pledged that the Sudetenland was his "last territorial claim"
Hitler then took over Czechoslovakia and also pressured Poland for Danzig
Not a single nation agreed to an alliance with the Soviet Union
Foreign Policy in the 1930s
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